(BL) Hunting The Field Guide - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: A trio of Captains Chapter 55: A trio of Captains The Captain took the two of them to the basement level below the lobby, where Hill had pulled in when Kellen moved in.

There, taking Kellen’s hand, he led him around the large garage until he got to a row labeled Captain Thatcher.

It was full of luxury cars, and quite a few Kellen recognised at least the type of car because his Dad owned the same one, but in a different colour.

It was actually a fleet of cars, and Kellen felt his head swim.

He hadn’t thought that his Dad had a lot of cars before, since he had a garage he rotated them out of when he wanted to use them.

The Captain kept them all in one place, obviously showing them off. Oh god, I really do come from money.

The Captain stopped at a sleek black car that Kellen recognised because he was pretty sure his Dad had it in red.

The Captain took him all the way around, even opening the door for him.

His smile was soft, and his eyes were a warm, yellow shade.

“Hop in.” He told him, and Kellen nodded and got in.

The Captain then reached across him and buckled him in, much to Kellen’s surprise, before he closed the door and got into the driver’s seat. He spared Kellen one more glance before he zipped out from under the Guild.

Kellen found the handle, grabbed it, and held on.

A sinking feeling accompanied by a deep sense of worry filled him.

Maybe the Captain and my Dad have the same need for speed.

Leaving the Guild building, the Captain brought the two of them rather quickly to the front of the D.E.C.

and the Center.

Even with the roadblocks still in place since reconstruction and search and rescue were hard at work, it took them maybe 10 minutes.

The Captain also seemed to be having fun as Kellen went whiter and whiter.

He even laughed joyfully as he pulled into a near impossible spot, forcing Kellen to grip onto his arm tightly.

Kellen’s heart was in his throat as the car rocked to a stop.

He wanted to scream at the Esper but knew it would be a pointless endeavour.

The Captain was enjoying himself too much.

Legs shaking, Kellen opened the car door and threw his legs out onto the pavement.

He didn’t get out of the car, and instead took a minute to breathe in the fresh air.

The Captain was laughing at him as he got out and came around to Kellen’s side of the car.

He leaned against the open door frame as Kellen gathered his wits about him.

“Did that scare you, Kellen?” Kellen’s cheeks heated and his heart thumped in his chest at the intimate way the Captain called him.

It was the first time he’d used his name in public like this.

Kellen gulped.

His fingers clung like claws to the side of the leather seat while the Captain’s gaze roamed him.

He was sure the man wasn’t missing a thing with that piercing gaze, and giant grin on his face.

“I-I-” Kellen started, his throat dry, before swallowing and trying again.

“You are never allowed to race my Father.” Kellen told him, trying to sound stern.

The Captain threw his head back and laughed at his statement, and Kellen glared at him.

The Captain reached his hand out, tentatively cupping Kellen’s face in his hand.

When Kellen didn’t reject the touch, the Captain’s eyes softened.

He began to rub his thumb across Kellen’s bottom lip in a slow, soft motion.

“Not sure who you would root for?

I understand.

I wouldn’t want to divide the family.” His cheeky grin made him look younger, and it stirred something in Kellen’s chest.

It reminded him of some of the photos he’d taken when he was quite a bit younger, in his teens.

Swallowing, Kellen raised his hand, cupping the Captain’s cheek as well.

The Captain leaned into the touch, closing his eyes as if he was savouring it.

Then, he turned his head and kissed Kellen’s palm, his eyes still soft.

“We should go, before I give the press following us something to take a picture of.” He told Kellen, and Kellen’s eyes widened.

There was no warning signs blaring in Kellen’s mind.

He’d had no idea he was in danger, or maybe…Kellen didn’t consider it a dangerous situation anymore?

The Captain offered to help Kellen out of his car, but stepped back when Kellen shook his head.

He did close the car door and take Kellen’s hand in his after though, and took the lead, moving them towards the Center.

Kellen could feel his hands beginning to sweat, and worried that the Captain would find it gross.

The only saving grace Kellen could think of was the fact that they were not going into the Center proper, and instead were going to the D.E.C., which occupied the upper levels of the building.

The Captain gave Kellen’s hand a squeeze, opening the front doors for him before briskly leading him towards the elevators.

He hummed a tune as the two waited, before practically dragging Kellen inside and hitting buttons.

Kellen knew it wasn’t good for him to be so distracted, but he was too busy trying not to fall into a panic attack.  The elevator doors opened, and the Captain let Kellen get out first before directing him down the long hallway in front of them.

It felt like an office building, but it opened up slightly as they rounded a corner.

The space had a few desks, and at the end a set of large, double doors.

At the desks were two ladies who seemed quite busy.

They glanced up, before doing a double take at the sight of the Captain.

They began to panic, and Kellen had no idea why.

The Captain quickly fixed that for him.  With a smile, the Captain approached the doors, and instead of knocking, he raised his leg and kicked both doors, knocking them off of their frame and forcing them to slide across the floor.

Thankfully, the room on the other side was huge.

The set of couches on the other side seemed ridiculously small compared to the vastness of the room.

The room itself was covered in wooden paneling, giving it a very old, rustic feeling.

It reminded Kellen of videos he’d seen of offices of old, which was probably why Uncle Tom did it.

His desk wasn’t facing the doors like the others, and instead was tucked into the corner of the room so he would have a perfect view of everything, and also on a platform.

He had three couches in the room, all of them angled so that they could face each other, with a clear, glass coffee table in between them.

That was where the doors that the Captain kicked off headed.  Thankfully, sitting in two of those couches facing each other, were Captain Sergei and Uncle Tom.

Both men stopped the doors with their feet.

Uncle Tom sighed heavily.  “Was that necessary Captain Thatcher?” Uncle Tom chastised, before blinking, and realising that the Captain of the Saturn Guild wasn’t alone.

Kellen gave a wave as he smiled weakly.

Even Captain Sergei was surprised to see Kellen with him.  “Guide Kellen?

What are you doing here?” Captain Sergei was the first to ask, and Kellen felt the Captain’s grip on his hand tighten slightly.

It wasn’t bruising, but he knew the man was upset that they questioned Kellen joining him.

Kellen sighed.  “Uh, well, I’m partially the reason that if you had called a meeting with Captain Thatcher that he wasn’t able to make it.

Unfortunately, I experienced some…side effects yesterday.” Kellen raised his hand that held onto the Captain’s still, drawing attention to it.

“I am actually still experiencing them, but they are now on the mild side.” Kellen said with a Guide smile, as concern crossed both of their faces, before they relaxed.

They both knew Kellen, so they knew that if Kellen said they were mild now, they must have been horrible before.  “Oh.

Well, that explains it then.

Usually Captain Thatcher is quite punctual, or gives us a heads up if he can’t make it.

When we heard nothing, we were actually quite worried.” Kellen felt his face heat in embarrassment at Captain Sergei’s response.

“Ugh, again, I apologise.” Uncle Tom got to his feet, picking up one of the large, heavy wooden doors.  “There is no need to apologise, Kellen.

You played an important part in yesterday’s event.

We’re grateful that you’re okay, and sorry that we started the meeting without you Captain Thatcher.

Captain Sergei and I were actually just discussing the newest report on the new gate.

There have been no new fluctuations in the new gate, and it appears that on paper it has stabilised as a B Class gate.” Uncle Tom put the first door in place, before picking up the other door and placing that roughly into place.

The Captain’s eyes glowed a brighter yellow for a moment before the doors were back in working order.

Almost as if they were back to their original state.

Blinking, Kellen didn’t let his surprise cross his face.

He still hadn’t spoken to the Captain about his powers, but after seeing him at work, Kellen had a rough idea.

If his hunch was right, it was horrifying that the Captain was an S Class.  “That’s good news, isn’t it Sergei?

It means we won’t compete with your gate.” The Captain joked, and Captain Sergei sighed.

He glanced at Kellen, before looking at the Captain.  “Compete?

You know that’s not how it works, Captain Thatcher.

New gates are a blessing and a curse to everyone.” Kellen blinked, but held his tongue.

The Captain hadn’t been wrong.

Gates of the same rank usually competed when it came to personnel on the front lines.

Like experts and scientists who specialised in certain classes.

Captain Sergei must have known that, so why was he being so dismissive?  Uncle Tom returned to the couch he had been sitting on, exhaling as he relaxed into the cushions.

“The D.E.C.

has just sent in the first scout party since it was too dangerous before.

We should hear back in a few hours about the terrain and type once they come out.

For now, let’s discuss the shit show that was yesterday.” Kellen watched as Captain Sergei clenched his fist and Kellen swallowed. It was his area, of course it was a sore spot for him.

It made sense he was pissed.

Captain led Kellen over towards the third couch and motioned for Kellen to sit, but Kellen shook his head.

Confused, he looked at Kellen when Kellen gestured for him to sit instead.

The Captain didn’t budge and they had a silent argument for a moment until Kellen got frustrated.  “Captain, sit.” He ordered and the Captain gave him a strange look, but finally released Kellen’s hand and sat down.

Kellen moved around the back of the couch, Kellen’s hands shaking at the lack of contact.

He’d been fine for the most part, even able to chat with Hill without him, but being in the same building that housed the Center must have set him off.

When Kellen reached the back of the Captain, he reached down and quietly, without much thought on Kellen’s part, and he began to undo the top buttons of the Captain’s shirt and jacket.

Once done, he slid his arm into the Captain’s shirt so that he could feel the warmth and heat against his skin.

His other hand he slid down the front of his shirt until his palm was cupping the Captain’s pec.

He sighed, the tense part of him relaxing at the skin contact, and the heartbeat under his hand.

Leaning forward without a thought, Kellen pressed his nose into the Captain’s neck and inhaled, feeling his body relax further at his scent.  “Um, Mr.

Woods?” Captain’s voice was strained, and Kellen realised his shoulders were shaking.

Horrified at his current display, Kellen felt his face heat but he couldn’t force himself to retract his hands.

He also couldn’t meet a single eye in the room.  “Uh, I…” He sighed.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered into the Captain’s shoulder, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.

The Captain’s shoulders shook more, before he just threw his head back and laughed.

He turned and kissed Kellen’s cheek, raising the arm Kellen hadn’t wrapped around like a snake to pat his head.  “Kellen, it’s alright.

It shocked me, but you already said you’re experiencing side effects.

Are you sure you’re alright?

Should you be out and about?” Uncle Tom asked sweetly, and Kellen sighed.

He raised his head to meet Uncle Tom’s kind gaze.  “It’s…well, I think it comes with the new class level.

The side effects are a little more intense than what I’m used to.” Kellen told him sincerely.

“But this is the worst of it now.

I’m sorry for my inappropriate display.” Uncle Tom’s soft smile met his gaze.  “Ah, I see then.

Well, don’t feel embarrassed.

If it wasn’t for the fact that we needed to discuss what we need to do with those damn terrorists I’m sure that you and Captain Thatcher wouldn’t even be out of your apartment.” The other Captain’s chuckled while Kellen flushed.

Captain nodded.  “Yes, it is a rather unfortunate series of events.” Captain easily admitted, not a single embarrassed bone in his body.

In fact, if Kellen was to hazard a guess, the Captain seemed to be glowing under Kellen’s open display of need.  “I agree with you, Captain Thatcher.” Uncle Tom’s gaze lost the tenderness there before he sighed.

He closed his eyes, shaking his head.

“I still can’t believe they were planning something like this under our noses.

If you two hadn’t messaged me about the deal you’d come up with, none of us would have known and the death toll would be…” He shook his head.

“I don’t even want to imagine.

Truly, thank both of you from the bottom of my heart.

I know the government wants to hold something once they have finished cleaning up-” Captain Sergei cut him off.  “I don’t want nor need anything for protecting the city.

It doesn’t feel right, since that’s what my job is.” The Captain nodded, agreeing with Sergei’s words.  “Exactly.

Why should we get extra rewarded for just doing our job?

In fact, I feel like we failed our job because we didn’t catch it.

We all knew that there were extremist groups, so why did we think we wouldn’t get hit by them?” Captain Sergei’s harsh face got even harsher.  “We grew arrogant.

We saw how everyone else was getting attacked and assumed that we would be fine because we have so many Guild’s here.” Captain Sergei seemed to really be beating himself up over this.

Uncle Tom sighed.  “I think you are being too harsh on yourselves.

They must have chosen this time because it’s chaotic with the new gate, not because we grew arrogant.

The D.E.C.

always has feet on the ground trying to get a pulse of the city.

We were only alerted seconds before Captain Thatcher noticed something.

Without the quick response from the two of you, who knows what could have happened?” Kellen spoke up.  “The Guiding Centers would have been attacked and we would have lost dozens of important Guides and civilians.” The three Espers turned to the Guide.

“So you should be proud of what you’ve done.

Without your actions, the whole system would have been decimated.

Forget the gate, the city might have crumbled since most Guides are irreplaceable.

It’s well known, but not often spoken about, but there are more Espers than there are Guides.

If we had lost even 20 Guides that could have impacted the whole city.

Especially if they were some of the well balanced ones.” Kellen glanced around at the Captains who shouldered quite a bit of responsibility.

“So don’t beat yourself up over this.

As much as this attack was planned, I don’t really think it was.

It felt too random to me, more like a guerilla attack.” Kellen glanced at Captain Sergei, who still seemed upset.

“Uncle Tom, how many people were injured and killed?” He asked.

His Uncle sighed, before pulling out his phone and scrolling through the report.  “Well, we have quite a few minor injuries, as for serious…about 50, and we’ve had five deaths.

Four civilians and one Guide.” Everyone took a moment to process the news.

Kellen was the only one who seemed optimistic when hearing the facts.  “That could have ended quite differently.

Was the Guide killed in the original attack?” He asked and it took Uncle Tom a few seconds to find the answer.  “It appears so.

What a tragedy.” Uncle Tom murmured and Kellen sighed.  “It is.

It’s very upsetting that the group of people who want me dead on principle have attacked the city I live in, but I am not going to let them ruin the city either.

Don’t let them get to you.

If you let them get power over you, they’ve won, whether you’ve joined their side or not.” Kellen easily offered up the words he’d received from his therapist on the front lines.

They helped, and they had forced Kellen to rethink how he had sorted everything when dealing with his own problems.

The Captain chuckled.  “Are you saying you don’t like to lose, Mr.

Woods?” He asked and Kellen pressed his face into the Captain’s neck so that no one could see his expression.  “Sure, we can say it’s about winning or losing.

For the most part, I just hate the fact that they think that they can get away with this.

I also hate that they are going to influence the city for the worst.

I do not like when others think they can ruin the things I work to protect.”